First of all, do you know what an administration fee is? According to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), they define it as:
... (administration fees) recover the costs incurred by the retailer to operate a call centre and provide customer service, manage the billing information provided to the retailer by the distribution company and issue bills to customers based on that information. Retailers apply to the AUC for approval of administration charges, also known as non-energy rates.
This means it helps to offset our operating costs to provide you with our top-quality service. I like to think of it as you as paying for the personality of the organization or how you want to be treated. It is one of two things to consider when you are shopping around for a new retailer - the other component being the energy rate e.g., electricity or natural gas fixed, variable or hybrid rate.
Our standard administration fees are billed monthly and at the site level. This means, if you only have your electricity service with us, your monthly administration fee will be $6.50. If you added your gas service too, we charge you another monthly administration fee but at a discount - instead of $6.50, it is only $3.00. So for your two sites - one electricity and one natural gas, your total monthly administration fees are $9.50 or $114 annually. Pretty cost-effective.
Administration fees in our industry vary greatly. Some retailers have a standard fee - there are no discounts for additional sites to be added to your account. Some retailers charge a daily fee based on how many days in your billing period (just because you get a monthly statement from us, it doesn't mean it always line up perfectly to a full month). And some retailers really like their administration fees - did you know there is a retailer who charges their customers more than $10 per month for one site?
So our advice to you, our potential new customer who wants to be amazed with top quality service for a modest monthly fee, shop around to find a retailer who offers both cost-effective energy rates and non-energy fees that will offer a level of service that exceeds your expectations.
We are pretty confident you will decide on ACE.